Open Spaces celebrates 150 years with 'battle honours' list

Conservation organisation the Open Spaces Society has produced a list of "battle honours" to mark its 150th anniversary.

The society was founded as the Commons Preservation Society in 1865 and saved Hampstead Heath, Wimbledon Common and other London open spaces in the mid-nineteenth century.

The society has campaigned throughout England and Wales and the list includes a number of cases in which the society has been involved.

General secretary Kate Ashbrook said: "In some of these cases the public right would have been utterly lost but for our intervention. In others we gave vital legal guidance to local people, and in still others we took the lead in organising defenders of public rights to save them - including taking direct action.

"Today we are needed more than ever because public spaces and paths face constant threats from developers and swingeing cuts to public spending. We are as energetic as ever in the fight for our freedom to enjoy those vital green spaces and paths."

Are you a landscape supplier?

If so, you should be receiving our new service for Horticulture Week subscribers delivering landscape project leads from live, approved, planning applications across the UK. Download Landscape Business Leads Now